Endocrine Review

1. Define the term hormone.

2. How is the effect of a hormone different from the effect of a nerve impulse?

3. What is a target cell?

4. What must a target cell have to respond to a hormone?

5. Why do only target cells respond to a given hormone?

6. How are the nervous and endocrine systems specialized to maintain homeostasis?

7. What two major groups of hormones exist? Describe each.

8. Describe how each kind of hormone is able to affect a cell.

9. What is the role of cyclic AMP in a target cell?

10. If a cell produces no adenylyl cyclase, how will the cell's response to a peptide hormone be affected?

11. Does the binding of testosterone to it's receptor stimulate the production of cAMP? Explain.

12. How would an increase or decrease in growth hormone affect someone during childhood? After puberty?

13. Are estrogen receptors in a cell or on the cell membrane? Explain your answer.

14. What are the two regions of the adrenal gland and how do they differ?

15. How is blood sugar level maintained?

16. Where is insulin produced?

17. Some diabetics produce sufficient insulin but they lack sufficient receptors. Explain how a lack of receptors could cause the same symptoms as a lack of insulin?

18. Why is insulin injected rather than taken orally?

19. Why do insulin levels increase during times of stress?

20. Imagine that a virus attacks and destroys the cells of the anterior pituitary. Predict the effect on blood sugar.

21. In what two ways does the hypothalamus direct the pituitary?

22. What are releasing factors?

23. How are the effects of hypothalamus releasing factors similar to the effects of most of the hormones of the anterior pituitary?

24. In some of it's functions, the hypothalamus seems to be part of the nervous system. In other functions, it seems to act as an endocrine gland. Explain.

25. What is negative feedback?

26. Your textbook foolishly refers to the pituitary as "the master gland." Why is this inaccurate?

27. What advantage is there to using genetic engineering to produce human hormones?

28. Where is TSH produced?

29. What effect does thyroxine have on blood sugar?

30. What symptoms are associated with hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism ?

31. What is goiter and how is it caused?

32. How do the pituitary and hypothalamus interact to regulate thyroxine levels?

33. Explain how the nervous and endocrine systems work together in response to danger.

34. What glands have connections to the nervous system?

35. How would high levels of ACTH affect secretions of cortisol from the adrenal glands? How would a high level of cortisol affect ACTH secretion?

36. A disorder called testicular feminization syndrome occurs when the testosterone receptor molecules are defective. Predict the effect and explain how the hormone activity is interfered with.

37. Provide an explanation for the following symptoms of diabetes mellitus: lack of energy, increased urine production, thirst.

38. A physician notes that a patient is very active and remains warm even on cold days. Furthermore, the patient's food intake is higher than average, yet the patient remains thin. What is your diagnosis and suggested therapy?